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We passed ib this guy once, but now he could put us over the top.

Kevin Garnett is getting $34 million more from the Celtics. Roy Hibbert is getting a max deal from either the Blazers or Pacers. Omer Asik will be getting $25 million from the Rockets or Bulls. Ersan Ilyasova is getting $45 million from the Bucks. Ryan Anderson is getting about $35 million from the Hornets. And now it sounds like Brook Lopez is getting a max deal, whether he plays for the Nets or Magic next season.
So what would you say about the idea of paying $1.1 million for a big man who played almost 1,400 minutes for the best team in the league last season?
DeJuan Blair was a feel-good story for the San Antonio Spurs. He was taken 37th in the 2009 Draft and quickly became a contributor for a title contender, despite his lack of ACLs.
But Blair was replaced in the Spurs’ rotation by Boris Diaw late last season, and he played just 77 minutes in the playoffs. Then, there were reports that the Spurs might bring over Slovenian big man Erazem Lorbek next season, possibly pushing Blair further down the depth chart.
Lorbek looks to be re-signing with FC Barcelona, but Blair still thinks his days in San Antonio are numbered.
Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News caught up with Blair in Las Vegas, where the big man is putting in work for the U.S. Select Team:
Blair makes no attempt to hide his feelings when he discusses his diminished role in the playoffs, including his belief he might be better off elsewhere.
“I love the Spurs, but they’ve got a lot of ‘bigs,’ and they’re bringing somebody else from overseas, so where am I going to fall at?” he said. “I was out of the rotation at the end of the season, so imagine next year.
“That’s something I really don’t want to go through again, because it tore me down.”
…
Blair turned 23 as the post-lockout season concluded in late April. What has happened since requires maturity.
“The Spurs are excellent,” he said. “They used me to get everybody going and just get to the playoffs. That’s what it’s seemed like the last two seasons. But it’s a business, and everybody has their role, and I played mine, obviously, in the season. That’s proved right now.
“We were No. 1 the last two seasons when I was starting, and then lost in the playoffs when I wasn’t. That’s just, well, I don’t know, common sense.
“But I’ll be all right.”
Given Lorbek’s decision to stay in Europe and Diaw’s inconsistency, it might behoove the Spurs to hold onto Blair. And it’s hard to imagine they’ll get back equal value for a guy who’s slated to make less than $1.1 million next season.
But if the Spurs plan on bringing back the big man, it’s clear they’ll have some work to do in trying to repair his psyche.Kevin Garnett is getting $34 million more from the Celtics. Roy Hibbert is getting a max deal from either the Blazers or Pacers. Omer Asik will be getting $25 million from the Rockets or Bulls. Ersan Ilyasova is getting $45 million from the Bucks. Ryan Anderson is getting about $35 million from the Hornets. And now it sounds like Brook Lopez is getting a max deal, whether he plays for the Nets or Magic next season.
So what would you say about the idea of paying $1.1 million for a big man who played almost 1,400 minutes for the best team in the league last season?
DeJuan Blair was a feel-good story for the San Antonio Spurs. He was taken 37th in the 2009 Draft and quickly became a contributor for a title contender, despite his lack of ACLs.
But Blair was replaced in the Spurs’ rotation by Boris Diaw late last season, and he played just 77 minutes in the playoffs. Then, there were reports that the Spurs might bring over Slovenian big man Erazem Lorbek next season, possibly pushing Blair further down the depth chart.
Lorbek looks to be re-signing with FC Barcelona, but Blair still thinks his days in San Antonio are numbered.
Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News caught up with Blair in Las Vegas, where the big man is putting in work for the U.S. Select Team:
Blair makes no attempt to hide his feelings when he discusses his diminished role in the playoffs, including his belief he might be better off elsewhere.
“I love the Spurs, but they’ve got a lot of ‘bigs,’ and they’re bringing somebody else from overseas, so where am I going to fall at?” he said. “I was out of the rotation at the end of the season, so imagine next year.
“That’s something I really don’t want to go through again, because it tore me down.”
…
Blair turned 23 as the post-lockout season concluded in late April. What has happened since requires maturity.
“The Spurs are excellent,” he said. “They used me to get everybody going and just get to the playoffs. That’s what it’s seemed like the last two seasons. But it’s a business, and everybody has their role, and I played mine, obviously, in the season. That’s proved right now.
“We were No. 1 the last two seasons when I was starting, and then lost in the playoffs when I wasn’t. That’s just, well, I don’t know, common sense.
“But I’ll be all right.”
Given Lorbek’s decision to stay in Europe and Diaw’s inconsistency, it might behoove the Spurs to hold onto Blair. And it’s hard to imagine they’ll get back equal value for a guy who’s slated to make less than $1.1 million next season.
But if the Spurs plan on bringing back the big man, it’s clear they’ll have some work to do in trying to repair his psyche.

"Did we learn anything?"-Jonathan Ames

"No, but thats okay, It's a good thing to stay in the dark about things - it keeps life more interesting."- George Christopher

Re: We passed ib this guy once, but now he could put us over the top.

Why do you compare Blair to Foster? They are completely different players. Blair would be nice to have as a 3rd big. He can post up, set screens, and keep people out of the post. However, there is always an injury risk with him because of his bad knees.

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Re: We passed ib this guy once, but now he could put us over the top.

Not sure I see the fascination with Blair. Guess it goes back to the draft.

FWIW, if this guy is your 3rd big, you got problems. Nice rebounder. sets a decent screen. no hops, no speed, easy to shoot over, short, long arms though, add it all up and it says just another guy. If you want a guy like Blair, you can get one for cheap just before camp. Lots of guys are this good.

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Re: We passed ib this guy once, but now he could put us over the top.

Blair >>> Cheeseburger Boris

"Nobody wants to play against Tyler Hansbrough NO BODY!" ~ Frank Vogel

"And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen. "
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Re: We passed ib this guy once, but now he could put us over the top.

Given their number of bigs and their affection for Euro players, we might get him for not much more than the rights to Stanko.

I am not saying he is great or anything, just practically free. I would like a much bigger backup PF that can play the 5 and elevate and attack the rim when fronted by the likes of Shane Battier, but if he is getting in shape (<260) and costs Stanko and a 2nd, I'd do it. Gives you more than Tyler, IMO

The poster "pacertom" since this forum began (and before!). I changed my name here to "Slick Pinkham" in honor of the imaginary player That Bobby "Slick" Leonard picked late in the 1971 ABA draft (true story!)

Re: We passed ib this guy once, but now he could put us over the top.

With all due respect, is it that difficult to get a Jeff Foster type player?

Yes, it takes a very special player to go 2-10 from the floor in order to rack up 9 ORs. I wouldn't read too much into the fact that Blair doesn't average as many OR's as Foster since he shoots a higher percentage he has fewer opportunities to re-rebound his own missed putbacks.

Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
And life itself, rushing over me
Life itself, the wind in black elms,
Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you

Re: We passed ib this guy once, but now he could put us over the top.

I am still confused on why so many of you are willing to trade for a guy who will not be a RFA and will be a FA in one year.

Sometimes it pays to wait one year and let the guy come to you rather than trading picks/players.[/QUOTE

There is NO guarantee you could get him next year. Getting Blair now gives you a chance to see if he's a good fit for the Pacers. If he is, then he's already acquainted with the team and maybe has some allegence to the Pacers. If you get him now, Bird Rights go with it.

His salary is less than 1.1 mil. I don't see the Spurs wanting to take salary back, so a 2nd/Stanko and cap would probably get a deal done. Stanko is never going to wear a Pacers uni anymore than Lorbek was. They are trade fodder that costs the Pacers nothing to trade.

Other teams are making moves to get better. The Pacers can't sit with thumbs up their, and do nothing expecting to repeat the same results or produce better results this coming year. Blair is an asset that can help the 2nd unit and has been a starter on one of the premier NBA teams. At 1 mil he is a bargain that can help the Pacers. He brings more to the table than Hansbrough which is 3 times the cost. Plus if Hans gets injured, vertigo, you have a cheap qualified player already on the roster.

Re: We passed ib this guy once, but now he could put us over the top.

There is NO guarantee you could get him next year. Getting Blair now gives you a chance to see if he's a good fit for the Pacers. If he is, then he's already acquainted with the team and maybe has some allegence to the Pacers. If you get him now, Bird Rights go with it.

His salary is less than 1.1 mil. I don't see the Spurs wanting to take salary back, so a 2nd/Stanko and cap would probably get a deal done. Stanko is never going to wear a Pacers uni anymore than Lorbek was. They are trade fodder that costs the Pacers nothing to trade.

Other teams are making moves to get better. The Pacers can't sit with thumbs up their, and do nothing expecting to repeat the same results or produce better results this coming year. Blair is an asset that can help the 2nd unit and has been a starter on one of the premier NBA teams. At 1 mil he is a bargain that can help the Pacers. He brings more to the table than Hansbrough which is 3 times the cost. Plus if Hans gets injured, vertigo, you have a cheap qualified player already on the roster.

If all he cost is Stanko then I would be open to the idea but I think your kidding yourself if thats all he would cost and the only reason I say this is that other teams would most likely offer a lot more than some second round fodder.

Would Blair be a good fit with a defensive Center in Plumlee? Probably not and the big issue is what it cost to retain him. He will atleast get a MLE offer or something in that range and I would like to follow the Spurs strategy to keep the cost low on the backup players on the team and they way they do that is by keeping their picks and making the most out of them.

Re: We passed ib this guy once, but now he could put us over the top.

With all due respect, is it that difficult to get a Jeff Foster type player?

Like all Pacer fans I appreciated Jeff Foster, but the obsession with him on both the front office and fan base is kind of annnoying. When we drafted Hans we heard he was "Jeff Foster with a more developed offensive game". When we drafted Plumlee we heard that he was a "Jeff Foster type of player". With all do respect to Jeff, I'm not sure he i the type of player that will put a team over the top.

If championships were won solely through grit and determination we would be perennial title contendors.

Re: We passed ib this guy once, but now he could put us over the top.

If all he cost is Stanko then I would be open to the idea but I think your kidding yourself if thats all he would cost and the only reason I say this is that other teams would most likely offer a lot more than some second round fodder.

Would Blair be a good fit with a defensive Center in Plumlee? Probably not and the big issue is what it cost to retain him. He will atleast get a MLE offer or something in that range and I would like to follow the Spurs strategy to keep the cost low on the backup players on the team and they way they do that is by keeping their picks and making the most out of them.

Who else is going to give a better deal? Stanko would be a 1st round pick now, and the Spurs aren't wanting to take back salary. That's very important. Remember, they supposedly didn't have the money to re-sign Hill. Personally, I find that humorous since they just spent 8.5 mil on re-signing 2 of their own players... Green 4 mil and Diaw 4.5 mil. It's amazing they got Diaw towards the end of the season after trading Hill, and they now are spending 4.5 mil to keep him. As far as I'm concerned, they saw Bird coming and sold him a bill of goods while reaping in Kawhi Leonard.

For 1 mil and Stanko does it really matter how Plumlee and Blair fit together? Better question yet, how is Hansbrough and Plumlee going to fit? At least, Blair can play "D", reb, and set picks. Those things fans complained about Hans not being able to do all last season.

Even if Blair is nothing but a 1 year rental, like Lou, he comes 3X's cheaper than Lou did, and can SCORE. I see getting Blair for Stanko and Cap as a win win situation, even if it's just for a year. JMOAA

Do I think it will happen? No, TPTB aren't that in tune to get it done..